A quick break

I'm on the other side of the country right now, visiting family, and seeing a good friend get married. The shop move is 95% done. I do have some odds and ends to move out when I get back. And I have two commissions to get in motion, even while I get some of the basics set up. But I'm looking past the move now, and into the future. There's been some soul searching going on. I've been thinking about what I really need in my shop, in our home, in my life, and trying to clarify what's useful. And, I'm getting ready to clear out the dead wood. A big part of that will be redefining my relationship to the shop.

Moving everything into the new space is one thing. Putting most of it away is another, and it's been an ongoing process as I move. I've talked about the hazards of setting up a space that's so full of stuff that it's no longer capable of being productive. That's been very much on my mind over the past couple of weeks. A lot of stuff that I won't need for a while has been stored away elsewhere in the building. And some other stuff will get sold, or thrown out. I'll get into final contents and layout soon enough. I'm letting some of that simmer on the back burner while I'm on vacation.

A new shop needs a new mission statement. And part of the new statement will define this shop as productive, and not creative in nature. There is (and will continue to be) a high level of artistry in some of the things that I've built, and a lot of creative sparks that regularly fly. But when the rubber hits the road, the shop is not a studio, or a refuge. It is a tool to make things happen, and a testbed for finding better ways to do the work. That's going to inform many of my choices going forward...